MORGANTOWN — Sam White and Skylar King each pounded out four hits and Griffin Kirn improved to 3-0 on the mound, as No. 24 West Virginia ran away from Kennesaw State on Friday 16-2 inside Kendrick Family Ballpark.
WVU (13-0) remained undefeated on the season and essentially broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning when White doubled home teammate Logan Sauve and Jace Rineart hit his second home run of the season for two more runs that gave WVU a 4-1 lead.
That was certainly good enough for Kirn, who went 5 1/3 innings for his third win of the season. He allowed four hits and two runs and struck out six, but also walked four. Four WVU relievers combined for 3 2/3 innings of hitless ball.
It was the fourth consecutive game the Mountaineers scored in double figures, and WVU exploded for nine runs in the seventh inning.
White finished with three RBIs on the day and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. WVU had 18 hits overall, including six for extra bases.
Rineart has hit a home run in each of the last two games giving the USC Upstate transfer a team-high 12 RBIs on the season.
The second game of the three-game series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, with WVU expecting to send junior Gavin Van Kempen to the hill as the starter. The third game is scheduled for noon Sunday.
